Winning
by ahsag3
Summary: Inspired by @seastarved on tumblr for the Hiatus Challenge #1. A pirate and pirate princess have a bit of a competition.


"Again, Killian?"

"Oi! It's not as if you haven't been trapped in the brig yet! I got you out of one just last week!"

"Yes, but you've been a pirate for years! I've been a pirate for just one! You shouldn't be getting caught so easily!"

"Aye, well I didn't have my beautiful pirate princess to look out for previously," he replies flirtatiously, while leaning closer to the bars.

Emma leans in closer as well, "I distract you then, hmm?" She smiles at him while batting her eyelashes.

Killian groans. She would be the death of him.

Yet, he can't believe just how lucky he is.

* * *

Emma is actually a princess. When she was twenty-one she decided to run away from the castle. Her parents love her dearly, but they were also overprotective. She wanted a sense of adventure and knew she wouldn't be able to convince her parents, for she had been trying for years. Finally, when she turned twenty-one she'd had enough. She was an adult and could handle herself. She packed a rucksack with essential items she needed, took some money and jewelry she could sell, and left. She didn't have a solid plan yet, but she started with going to a tavern that was far away from the castle that she would leave early in the morning before her parents noticed her absence.

And that's where she met her pirate.

Emma was sitting at a table alone ready to retire for the evening when he showed up right in front of her, swaggering to her table in a manner only he could master and straddled the bench at her table, facing her. Before she could muster out a word to tell him to go away, he picked her hand up and kissed the back of it, keeping eye contact the whole time. Even when his lips released her hand, she could still feel the tingles of where his lips had just been and it was something completely new to her. She'd had many suitors kiss her hand, but none of their kisses left a feeling like that before.

She could see the bastard was smirking, as if he could read her inner thoughts. He probably knew the effect he had on women and could read the expression on her face clearly. He hadn't released her hand yet and continued to hold it when he finally said, "Captain Killian Jones at your service, milady."

She was confused for a moment. He was wearing leather, well, everything, with a red vest. What did he mean Captain? But then realization dawned on her.

"Captain of a pirate ship?" She asked. And she was proud her voice came out even and steady, what with her heart beating an erratic rhythm thanks to his good looks, especially his eyes.

Oh those eyes.

Those blue eyes.

And to top it all off he had an accent that would make her swoon if she didn't have any decency.

"Aye, we sail where we will and answer to no crown." He told her while maintaining his smirk.

Oh, the irony. He answers to no crown, but he certainly answers to her.

At first, she was reluctant to trust him, but as the time got later and they'd been speaking for hours, she felt herself relax. She didn't know why, but something told her he wouldn't hurt her and she could trust him- even if he is a pirate.

Once she told him she had never been outside the kingdom and was eager for adventure, he offered her residence on his ship. He didn't know why he asked her to come with him, he'd never done such a thing. He'd also never stayed up all night with a woman just to speak, instead of enjoying more pleasurable activities. He knew he couldn't let her go and so he offered. What he hadn't expected was for her to accept his proposal.

Killian had been planning to leave that night and that was even better in her circumstances than to leave in the morning. He gathered up his crew and they made their way back to the ship. His crew knew to keep their hands to themselves and that she is to be treated with the utmost respect, no one daring to ask why she was suddenly joining them. She took up residence in the first mate's cabin and began to learn everything there is to know on how to be a pirate, changing into the appropriate leather attire as well.

The truth that she is actually a princess came out only a few weeks after she'd joined the crew, so to speak. Only he knows the truth and they keep it that way. She had decided she wanted to be truthful to him because she didn't want to start their friendship off with secrets.

That friendship quickly grew into love the more time they spent together. She soon moved out of the first mate's cabin and Smee was happy to get his cabin back.

After about six months of being with Killian, she wrote to her parents so they could stop worrying. She didn't tell them where she is or what she's doing, only writing that she's safe, happy, and with a man she loves. Maybe one day she'll go back to see them, but for now she'll be alright knowing that she can finally put their minds at ease.

They stay far away from her kingdom. When they are in port, they may do an illegal thing or two. You see, since both of them are so stubborn and competitive, they've created this little competition- who's the best at not getting caught? It amuses the crew and they are always ready in case they need to go with their captain or his lady to bust one or the other out of the brig.

They are pirates after all, topped with their stubbornness and competitiveness, the result is a ridiculous competition that so far has no end date.

* * *

Which brings them to their current predicament.

She smiles in triumph at the effect she has on him, even after a year.

"Well then Captain, you're going to have to figure out a way to not be so distracted anymore. Because this is the second time you've gotten caught and I've only been caught once since we started our little competition. It seems I'm going to win," she says with a smug smirk she must have learned to master from spending so much time with him.

She catches the competitive glint in his eyes that always appears when she challenges him.

"Never," he responds determinedly with a grin on his face.

"We shall see," she responds with a teasing smile.

They get him out in record time, not a struggle at all for pirates.

Once they're back in their cabin on the Jolly Roger, he whispers something to her as she's drifting off to sleep.

"Hmm...?" She asks him sleepily, opening her eyes and lifting her head from his chest.

He smiles down at her softly, love in his eyes. He brings up the arm that was wrapped around her waist and strokes her cheek with his hand, "I've already won."

She looks at him confusedly, wondering what he means when she's clearly been winning so far.

"I have you and your love. I'm already a winner in every way that counts."

She looks up at him with the same look of love he has in those blue eyes she loves so much, raising her hand and stroking his face gently, simply whispering the three words she's said to him so many times in the quiet of their cabin.

He kisses her forehead and brings her even closer to his side, if that's possible.

A few minutes pass and he thinks she's already fallen asleep.

He's drifting off himself when she suddenly whispers, "I'm still winning our competition though."

All he can do is let out a loud laugh that mingles with hers, music to his ears.

His ridiculously stubborn pirate princess.


End file.
